I've been writing online professionally for over a decade and blogging since 2002. Once you start writing on the Web, you discover that a necessary skill for survival is developing a thick skin.

I've been called a c***, compared to Andrea Dworkin, and declared boring. If I'd listened to all the critiques, I'd have given up long ago.

Of course, everyone is bound to get slammed at some point in a virtual world, where tomato-throwers can hide behind anonymity, and meatspace is no cake walk either.

Here's how I've learned to deal with the haters, the trolls, and the invective-hurlers.

TIP #1: Ignore, engage, or learn.

The comment at the top of this post appeared on Hot Air, a conservative blog, and it was in regards to a recent post of mine the site had linked to: "Why Crazy People Make Better Bloggers." This post was quite popular for reasons I don't fully understand. It has nearly 18,000 views as of this writing, and it was tweeted over 550 times, which I believe makes it the most tweeted post I've ever written on this blog.

(As I said, I'm not really sure why the post was so popular, but my suspicion is that, on some level, everyone a) feels like they're crazy and b) wants to share that in some way so c) they can be seen, heard, and understood. I don't think people cared about "crazy" or "bloggers"; I think they cared about how acutely they long to expose themselves and be accepted by the world as they are.)

To say the comments at Hot Air were a mixed bag would be generous.

"If she gets paid more than $0.02 for doing whatever it is she does, I’ve got a few bridges to sell her employer," read one. (Note to my editor: We should talk.)

"I suppose the charitable explanation is that she writes for a niche market (unemployed talentless bloggers?)," read another.